Chic Eats

When Juvia in South Beach took home a James Beard award for North American restaurant design this year, it showed how much ambience plays into and often makes the dining experience. Here are five more regional restaurants where style is as important as the daily specials.

CiprianiThe very name Cipriani is synonymous with continental chic, so be prepared for a barrage of air kisses at the new downtown Miami hot spot. Designed like a Greek shipping tycoon’s yacht, custom décor from glossy walnut millwork to Flemish linens speaks to stylish circles. Culinary presentations also have flair, though they just might be overshadowed by the stunning water views. “Our house carpaccio’s colors are inspired by Renaissance painter and the dish’s namesake Vittore Carpaccio,” says Maggio Cipriani, of its mid-century debut at Harry’s Bar in Venice, founded by Giuseppe Cipriani. “The Bellini is another beauty from my great-grandfather’s original location.” Both may be ordered in the bayfront restaurant and pending downstairs bar due to open before Art Basel. (Cipriani, 465 Brickell Avenue, Miami; 786-329-4090; cipriani.com.)

Bread + Butter Blink and you’ll miss chef Alberto Cabrera’s Bread + Butter. Modeled after one of those hard-to-find restaurants in Brooklyn, his progressive take on the Cuban cafeteria also borrows from New York’s design realm in subway tiles and a butcher’s block bar top. “Thankfully, I had a creative carpenter,” says Cabrera, who refashioned a salvaged lunch counter into seating, too. “It’s a bit industrial with aluminum chairs and homey with black-and-white family photos.”

The Cypress RoomOld Florida chronicler Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings would feel right at home in Michael Schwartz’s Cypress Room, where retro, regional decor enhances fine eating. Its name comes forth in pecky paneling and an adorable, seven-seat bar that’s just the setting to order a Calle Ocho made of rum and hibiscus liqueur shaken to a froth and garnished with nasturtium. An Instagram-worthy cocktail deserves an equally gorgeous appetizer—roasted and smoked baby beets sprinkled with their green tops and pistachios. It’s all the better surrounded by taxidermied and wallpaper critters denoting the locale, further sealed through a seafoam green, tufted banquette. “We aim to strike a balance between the masculine and feminine,” says Schwartz, who attracts lunching ladies and businessmen alike—all foodies in the end. (The Cypress Room, 3620 NE Second Avenue, Miami; 305-520-5197; thecypressroom.com.)

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